Button and button-fastener



(No Model.)

C. ERLANGER.

BUTTON AND BUTTON FASTENER'. No. 290,409. Patented Dec. 18,1883.

Nirisn- STATES PATENT tries.

THIRDS TO CHARLES E. OONOVER, OF MIDDLETOIVN, NEIV JERSEY AND JOHN FORGIE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BUTTON AND BUTTON-FASTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 290,409, dated December 18, 1883,

Application filed May 19, 1883. (No model.) I

1'0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES ERLANGER, a citizen of the United States residing at Baltimore, in the county of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Buttons and Button-Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

My improvement relates to that class of buttons that are fastened to fabrics by metallic staples, whereby the employment of thread is dispensed with; and the object of my invention is to provide a cheap and efficient device whereby the button is firmly secured in position upon the fabric.

To the accomplishment of this end my invention consists in a button of peculiar construction, and also of astaplehaving theterminal ends of its prongs strengthened in a novel manner, and in the combination of said staple and button, all as hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

I am aware that metallic staples have been used for this purpose, and I lay no claim, broadly, thereto. My present invention isin part an improvement on the device for'which Letters Patent No. 264,520 were granted to me, dated September 19, 1882.

In the button-fastening devices of this class in general use the staples, after being inserted through the button, had their prongs turned, the turning over being done after such staples have been passed through the button, leaving but a single thickness of the staple-prongs as bearings or retaining-binders for the button or disk, as the case may be.- Such staples, therefore, in practice, provide but a single strand at their ends to resist strain, which easily loses the grip. In other words, when tension is appliedas, for instance, by the suspender the single ends of the stapleprongs have a tendency to spring or be withdrawn from their position and be disengaged from the button. The invention disclosed in the Letters Patent hereinbefore mentioned measurably overcame these defects; and my present improvement affords further protection against the disengagement of the button from the staple, no matter what degree of strain or tension is applied.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like indicating-letters refer to similar parts on each figure, Figure 1 is a top Fig. 6 represents the form of staple with the returns on the points of its prongs, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 8 of Letters Patent No. 264,520. Fig. 7 is a top plan-view of my improved staple or button-fastener. Fig. 8 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. dis a perspective view thereof. Fig. 10 is another view of the device shown in Figs. 7, 8, and 9, wherein the prongs are somewhat lengthened 'to enable them to be returned or bent over on a plane with the disk or bridge of the staple before being turned up at right angles thereto. Fig. 11 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 12 represents a side view of the staple shown in Fig. 10, returned on the disk or bridge, and then bent up at right angles thereto, ready for insertion through the fabric and button. Fig. 13 represents in cross-section my invention connected to a piece of fabric.

I will first describe my improved staple. In this part of my invention my improvement consists in a novel and peculiar manner of fortifyin g and strengthening the terminal ends of the staple-prongs before they are inserted in the button, such strengthened ends being afterward turned down on a plane parallel with and against the middle or dish of the button, and therein engage and interlock with flanges upon a countersunk portion of said dish, as will be hereinafter explained.

Fig. 6 represents the device heretofore employed by me, as fully set forth in my previous Letters Patent, wherein the stapleprongs were hooked or turned over at their terminal ends, for the purpose therein exbest results can be obtained by making the ends of the prongs with a solid integral abutment, making a shoulder upon each prong end.

A is a metallic disk, having on each of its opposite sides an extending arm or strip, a, which, as a convenient term, I will call herein a prong, a. inner surface, has a solid abutment or thickened portion, a, formed integral therewith. This is the gist of this part of my invention,in contradistinction to the hooked or bent portion of said prongs. (See Fig. 6.) It will be seen that I thus form upon each prong a an abrupt shoulder, for a purpose to be hereinafter explained. The disk A, with its prongs (1, provided with abutmcnts a, are all struck up or formed integrally of one piece of metal.

B is the button. It is formed with a rim, 1), flat or nearly flat, and a middle dish, I), preferably conical or tapering downwardly, as plainly shown in the drawings. Said dish I) is countersunk at its middle, forming another dish or downward depression b \Vithin said depression I) are two cut-away parts or orifices, b",said orifices being practically what is known in this line of art as cable-holes, thus leaving a central portion or bridge-piece, 1), upon the countersunk portion If. The upper surface of said bridge-piece b is further partly countersunk or cutaway at its middle, thus forming on its face at its opposite edges two upwardly-projecting flanges, If, as plainly shown in the drawings. The inner surfaces of said flanges b are preferably shaped as shown in Fig. 5that is to say, with their inner faces formed in a right line between the letters w (See enlarged detail.)

The staple shown in Figs. 10 and 11 is formed with prongs a, provided with abutments a, somewhat longer than shown in F1 gs. 7, S, 9, the purpose of said lengthening being to admit said prongs to be folded down or returned upon the face of the disk A before they are bent up at right angles to the face of said disk.

I do not desire to be understood as limiting myself to the precise configuration of the disk A. I11 place ofa circular periphery, it may be elliptical, square, or polygonal, and be within the scope of myinvention. So,too,the prongs a of the staple (shown in the drawings as quadrangular in crosssection) maybe rounded, (see detail, Fig. 9,) in which construction the cable-holes I)" should have coincident couformation.

Each of said prongs a, upon its Fig. 13 plainly illustrates the practical application of my invention. The fabric 0 is pierced for the reception of the pronged disk previously prepared, as shown in Figs. 9 or 12. The button is placed on the front surface of the fabric C, and the pronged disk is inserted from the rear surface of the fabric, passing through said fabric and through the cable-holes b. The prongs a are then turned down until they lie on a plane parallel with the disk A. It will be readily understood that the abutments a fall within the countersunk face of the bridge-piece I), and engage with the flanges I), thus firmly i11- terlocking together the button and staple.

I will observe that I have provided a die or stamp connected with suitable compressing mechanism that at one operation turns over the staple-prongs and forces their abutments firmly within the upper recessed portion of the bridge-piece I)", thus impinging the shoulders of the abutments against the flanges I)"; but this device need not be herein explained in detail, as it forms no part of my present invention.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim is- 1. A button-fastener consisting of a disk having side prongs, 0,, provided with solid integral abutments 0/, adapted to engage with the flanges If of a button, B, substantially as described.

2. A button or disk provided at its middle with a downward]y-extendi11g dish, I), said dish having a second downward]y'extending dish, I), cut away at opposite sides to form orifices I)", the intermediate portion or bridgepiece, I)", being countersunk at its middle upon its upper surface, leaving integral upwardlyprojecting flanges I), as and for the purpose intended, substantially'as described.

3. The combination of a button, B, having at its middle downwardly-projecting dish I", said dish having a second downwardly-projecting dish,b provided with opposite orifices, b, and upwardly-extending flanges b, with a staple, A, having prongs it, provided with solid end abutments, a, whereby said staple and button may be firmly interlocked upon a garment, as set forth, substantially as de scribed.

CHARLES ERLAXG ER.

\Vitnesses:

MURRAY Hanson, J os. M. WINKLER. 

